Whistlestop
Whistlestop – 60 Years and Getting Even Better!
Whistlestop is Marin County’s largest and oldest senior service agency. 2014 marks Whistlestop’s 60th anniversary. In 1954, a grass roots community group decided to band together to make sure their elders were not forgotten. This was before the time of senior centers, considerations for people with disabilities, or specialized transportation. They 
started the Marin Senior Coordinating Council (aka Whistlestop), a non-profit agency dedicated to providing creative programming, helpful advice and administrative services to other organizations serving seniors. Over time, Whistlestop has grown to become the primary local provider of:
- paratransit and subsidized transportation services for older and/or disabled citizens in Marin (60 vehicles, 500 trips a day plus subsidized taxi vouchers)
- Meals on Wheels (to over 250 homebound adults each week)
- a rapidly expanding range of classes, support groups and events in the Active Aging Center
- the hoppin’ Jackson Cafe – a collaboration with Homeward Bound of Marin’s Fresh Starts Culinary Academy. Delicious meals are prepared by culinary students and served by our awesome Whistlestop volunteers.
Whistlestop is where I served one of my Counseling Psychology internships while in graduate school. I was blessed to be able to help facilitate the long-running and popular Seniors Circle Wednesday drop-in support group which brought me to Whistlestop every week. Once that began, I saw firsthand what a tremendous resource Whistlestop is for Marin seniors and also what potential it has to do more. 
Now Whistlestop is about to undertake an expansion campaign called Whistlestop 2.0 to provide even more rides, meals and services, plus some affordable apartments in a state of the art, beautiful living center. With Whistlestop’s prime location near shops, cafes, theaters and even the soon to be completed Smart Train, and with Marin being the fastest aging county in California, the timing of this project couldn’t be better!
I am proud to serve as an Executive on Whistlestop’s Board of Directors. See announcement in the newsletter below. Whistlestop Express March 2014. To kick-off our fundraising campaign and to celebrate our 60th Anniversary we are holding a huge party at Rancho Nicasio on September 28th, 2014. Join us! 
Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Online Community for “Tweeniors” and Older Adults in Marin
Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Building an Online Information/Community Hub in Marin
Prior to my career as a Marriage & Family Therapist, and gerontologist, I was involved in starting and growing several online communities. I have seen the tremendous benefits to individuals of a well-organized online information hub focused on the needs and interests of a particular demographic or special interest group.
This type of Online Information Resource Center assembles links, reviews and articles in an easily searchable, Central Hub to provide ease-of-use and convenience to the target population. I think we need such a Hub in Marin.
A vibrant, free, online information hub focused on older adults, adult children of older parents, baby boomers, “tweeniors”, and sandwich generation-ers – focused on life in Marin – would link Marinites up to the rich range of excellent resources, services, service providers, products, agencies and activities we have right here in our own backyards.
Plus, we would be able to share with each other how we have solved the wide variety of challenges and successes that come with growing older in general and in our local communities. We participants could serve as a kind of living encyclopedia of help and answers and ideas. Which leads me to the topic of…
Social Media (Online Community) Building Friendships
What we now call social media and used to call online community is a central part of such a community and demographic-focused web site. Members will come, attracted to the information resources, and stay, becoming participants, because of the supportive and interesting community of others with similar concerns and interests. Support and bonds and connections and friendships grow.
There are many examples of successful online communities which offer wonderful stories of mutual support. Some of you may remember The WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) which started in Sausalito in the 1980’s as a pioneering and legendary online community affiliated with the Whole Earth Review magazine. The WELL is still thriving and some of its members have been friends online now for 25 years. Dupont Circle Village offers a thriving senior online community as part of its Village membership in the DC area.
Older Population Thriving & Online Too
We are the fastest aging county in California. The fastest growing part of our population is the 85+ age group. Older people are turning to social media tools in droves. Something like 18,000,000 U.S. Facebook users are 55 and older.
For those older people who are not online, some simple and gentle classes and instruction would introduce them to the potential benefits of learning how to access resources and friends/family. I believe it would be empowering for them to at least have the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether the tools are for them or not.
Help! How Do We Find Answers?
The main complaint I hear from older people and their adult children or other loved ones is that they have an extremely difficult time finding answers and help for the dilemmas they are facing. They don’t know where to turn and when they do find phone numbers, they encounter what feels like a land of endless voice mail.
Many older people end up going to the ER’s with problems that would have been easily preventable if they had had help, knowledge, answers and support earlier on.
Isolation is a Major Health Issue
In addition, isolation becomes a tremendous issue for our older people as they experience vision impairment or physical conditions that prevent them from driving. Their worlds start to shrink.
We are blessed to have Whistlestop Wheels in Marin but it is important to note that Whistlestop is ADA paratransit – thus it is not senior transit – it is disabled transit with a rigorous screening process.
Isolation affects so many quality of life issues for seniors – it can lead to loneliness and depression, decline in cognitive capability and even lead to poor nutrition if the individual has no easy access to groceries and little inspiration to eat well-balanced meals.
An Invaluable Tool in Communication Toolkits
Vibrant online communities can provide a bridge between homebound people, give answers to those who are looking for ideas and shared personal experiences, referrals and tips for places to go for help, and friendly connections that can grow into friendships.
Experienced managers train volunteer moderators in conversation and group facilitation and various writing and administration tools. Online policies are crafted, posted and enforced to prevent scam artists from taking hold. Webinars and a host of free online classes can be offered.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors: An Online Information/Community Hub
As our federal, state and county budgets decrease, and at the same time our population is aging (“the Silver Tsunami” we’ve all heard about), what will be our plans for taking care of ourselves as we grow older? Will we choose to “age in place” or, as its being referred to now, “age in community”?
Will we need to look after each other along the lines of what our parents and grandparents did in smaller towns and closer-knit neighborhoods across the country?
Many people think so. There is a growing Village movement across the US and a growing NORC movement (NORC = Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities). These movements represent efforts by thousands of people in hundreds of communities to come up with ways to support each other as we get older.
We in Marin can also look out for each other as we grow older. We only need a will to do so. As I wrote last week for the Patch, the Mill Valley Village will join the group of 4 other Marin Villages (Ross Valley, Homestead Valley, Tiburon/Belvedere and Sausalito) later this year.
As we come up with a variety of ways to help each other out, we will benefit from a full use of a variety of communication tools to help us connect and collaboratively develop answers and support:
- face to face events to facilitate information exchange and relationships
- telephone help lines staffed by live operators
- an up-to-date central online information resource hub on aging in Marin
- vibrant and thriving grassroots online communities that offer us the ability to connect, form and maintain strong and caring relationships
Anybody else interested in exploring these possibilities? I’d love to hear from you!
Support Groups for Older Adults
There are many wonderful peer support groups for adults in Marin County. Some are targeted towards particular topics, while others are open to any and all of the concerns and interests of older people.
One of the ones I am familiar with and heartily recommend is called “Elders’ Circle”. It is a free, weekly drop-in support group for folks 60 years old and up. The group meets at Whistlestop Senior Center in San Rafael. Elder Circle is facilitated by two wonderful older men Herman Claussen and Steve Olian, both of whom are trained group facilitators with many years of group leadership experience. Both men and women participate in Elders Circle and all newcomers are welcome to talk about any issues at all and to find support and friendship. Elders Circle meets Wednesdays from 10-11:30AM. You can call Whistlestop at 415- 456-9062 for more information.
Another wonderful support group for older folks in Marin is called AgeSong. AgeSong is designed to be a place where men and women 65 and older can meet and discuss “concerns and desires, enlivening the search for deeper joy and satisfaction in our later years.” Topics for discussion include “How Did I Get to Be This Old?”, “Creating a New Old Age”, and “The Courage to Find New Possibilities in the Midst of Loss”. AgeSong meets for 8 weekly sessions, the cost is $80 for sessions, and scholarships are available. For information or to register, you can call AgeSong 415-491-5700, ext. 5726.
Another excellent resource in the North Bay is Senior Spectrum which offers opportunities for LGBT older adult men and women to come together for socializing, support, and community. Senior Spectrum also provides resources and referral as well as education and advocacy. For more information, you can contact Cristin Brew at (415) 472-1945 x203 or email cbrew@SpectrumLGBTCenter.org.